Abstract

This thesis first examines existing research on product management and performance appraisal systems, presenting methods of aligning the two systems so they work congruently toward improving overall organizational performance. Following is an examination of these systems as they currently exist in the Canadian pharmaceutical industry. The analysis of these two systems as they appear in this highly volatile marketplace lead the author to speculate that they may not be sufficiently aligned, and therefore may not be working congruently toward attaining the goals of the organization. A number of issues are presented that lead the author to question the effectiveness of existing performance appraisal systems. One such issue is significant ambiguity between product manager and supervisor perceptions of the functions and objectives used to evaluate the product manager's performance. Ultimately, this ambiguity may indicate that product managers are not performing the tasks that their supervisors and their organizations believe they should be performing to be successful in their roles.